Seen at a hardware store recently were these gasoline pump and drink vending machine recreation ornaments. The pumps had lights in the tops; the Shell one had shelves inside, the 'Route 66' one was designed for wine bottles. The Coca Cola and Jack Daniels ones were for putting the obvious inside.

Restored versions of the full-size real things have featured on programs like American Restoration, worth watching.

Obviously a poster for France. The Britannia and Suecia, both 4,661 grt and 376 ft (114.6 metres) long, were launched in 1929 and were in service with Swedish Lloyd from 1929 to 1966. The significantly bigger Patricia dates from 1951, a detailed illustrated history is on this webpage

Fraser Island is off the coast of Queensland, north of the Sunshine Coast area. This roll-on, roll-off ferry plies the water between River Heads/Hervey Bay on the mainland to Wanggoolba Creek on Fraser Island.

This ran from Montréal to Vancouver. According to this webpage, the first train with this name appeared in 1907, then disappeared and reappeared in 1919. The Trans-Canada Limited was doomed by the Great Depression which struck after the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. It operated one more season in 1930 and was discontinued, its equipment redistributed or stored.

It could almost be England. The bus was built post-WW2 with local bodywork. The prams (baby carriages) hanging on the front was a quaint practice which was also done in Dunedin. In Wellington buses had spaces for them in the back or sides.

Egypt is warning that terrorist groups are poised to seize control of Libya’s oilfields, as the country’s foreign minister appealed for an expansion of the Western-led campaign against jihadists fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham (ISIS) to tackle extremism threatening North Africa.

Sameh Shukri, the Egyptian foreign minister, used a visit to London on Monday to push for a new approach from Britain and the West to Islamist violence in Egypt and its neighbours, modelled on the campaign targeting the Islamic extremists.

“The natural resources in Libya represents a very large pool of wealth and funding that will fund terrorist activity not only there but in other parts of the world,” he said. “You see [ISIS] in Iraq utilizing gasoline and the black market, and in Libya this is a danger that will have a big impact for us.”

The staff of the Oamaru locomotive branch - 20 of them visible - pose on an example of the first locomotive class in the World to have a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement, the Baldwin-built Q; hence the term "Pacific". For more, see our books.

The age of this is uncertain. The original Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company was founded in 1901 and went bankrupt in 1953. A number of successor organizations perpetuated the name in subsequent years, with limited success. In 2011 Polaris Industries bought Indian Motorcycles and relocated operations from North Carolina, merging them into existing facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. Since August 2013, three motorcycle models that capitalize on Indian's traditional styling have been built under the Indian name.

The Limón Expres (Lemon Express) tourist train, apparently the first in Spain, ran from 1 June 1971 between Benidorm and Denia, later reduced to Gata de Gorgos on the FGV - the Costa Blanca tram & railway company - metre-gauge line between Alicante and Denia. The rolling stock consisted of 10 passenger cars with wooden seats and 2 saloon bar cars built in the 1920s and 1930s. Power consisted of 3 diesel-hydraulic "Batignolles". In July 1988, the "Batignolles" were replaced by 2 Alstom, BB diesel-electric type. In 1994 a third such locomotive followed.

It ceased running in 2005 because the bogies (trucks) and wheels of the cars needed maintenance and alteration to fit the new track which is being improved and electrified by the FGV. The old train has remained in a siding at Benidorm Station covered in graffiti. The expected cost of the upgrade is about 1.2 million Euros and the idea has been shelved, perhaps permanently.

Later that year on 4 December 1950, Baldwin merged with Lima Hamilton to become Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton in a move to diversify its operations. But Baldwin's success in selling diesels was poor; the company ceased making locomotives in 1956 and closed most of its Eddystone plant. From then to its cessation in 1972, Baldwin made heavy construction equipment.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Since 1945, this place has been Kowary Górne in Poland. This was on a 40 km semi-mountainous line completed in stages between 1882 and 1905 from Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra) via Schmiedeberg (Kowary) to Landeshut (Kamienna Góra) in Lower Silesia in an area known as the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge). The line, operated by the PKP since 1945, lasted until 2007.

The genesis of Air NZ was in 1940 when 10 passengers travelled from Auckland to Australia in the flying boat Aotearoa of Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (TEAL). That journey took nine hours - Air New Zealand trans-Tasman jets today take less than three.

The 2ft (610 mm) gauge Hudswell Clarke steam locomotives that
hauled sugar cane in Queensland and Fiji for The Colonial Sugar Refining Company were once an iconic part of the scene in both states. This 144 page book (not viewed) seems to be an improved makeover of the book Last of the Hudswells from a few decades ago, and can be ordered from the Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society for $A 35 plus postage (525 grams). For enquiries or to place an order contact sales@angrms.org.au

The EMD FT was a 4-axle 1,350-horsepower (1,010 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between November 1939 and November 1945. The "F" stood for 1,400 horsepower (rounded from 1350) and the "T" for twin, as it came standard in a two-unit set. It was the locomotive that convinced many U.S. railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time.More

The Mark 1 Chaika, the GAZ M13, made its debut in 1958, a Soviet luxury car for party bosses and top functionaries. This example converted for rail track use is in the Vasúttörténeti Park (Hungarian Railway Museum) in Budapest. (wikimedia)

Oakland was founded in 1907 by Edward M. Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. In January 1909 he sold half the company to General Motors; when Murphy died in the summer of 1909, GM acquired the remaining rights to Oakland. The brand was discontinued in 1931.

Essentially the overnight version of the Flying Scotsman train from London to Edinburgh. This sleeping car service was introduced by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1927 and ran from Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley. The service ceased to run as a titled train in May 1968.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

The 'Golden Chersonese', a name for the Malay Peninsula, separates the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, extending roughly north-south for just over 1,000 km (600 miles) from the narrowest part of S.E. Asia. The whole railway system is metre-gauge, apart from a standard gauge line to the airport in Kuala Lumpur.

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All at Sea: stories of New Zealand seafarers

Narratives from interviews conducted over several years with 16 merchant navy sailors - 14 men and 2 women - who recounted their stories from the last full fledged sailing ship, the Pamir being returned to her home country of Finland after WWII to recent stories on today's inter-island ferries and coastal vessels, as well as international cargo and passenger ships which sailed to various parts of the globe. A full range of occupations are covered from Deck Boy, Engineer, Steward to Master as well as harbour pilots, union leaders and shipping company executives.

NZR Memorabilia

A fabulous new book containing many colourful illustrations of old postcards, pamphlets, posters, and a wide range of objects that have been used by the NZR and its personnel from the 1860s to the present time. Together they tell in visual form the importance of NZR to NZ and its people over the past 150 years and provides a useful reference for collectors.

Voyage to Gallipoli

Details of the troopships to the Gallipoli campaign of WW1 and more WW1 naval history.